How do Property Management companies deal with Tenant Marketing & Retention?

Question

For my next post, let's look at tenant marketing & retention.

Property management is about attracting & retaining the right tenants. It's a valuable service, so ensure you're getting your money's worth by reviewing the firm's process for each task. Here’s a list of issues to review & questions to ask when interviewing property management firms:

Where do they advertise their rental listings?

The more exposure the better, unless the management company is billing you to advertise in places & ways that are not effective. Expect your listings to be on numerous paid & free websites and expect your manager to use offline channels such as:

• Print classifieds
• Signs
• MLS
• Fliers
• 24-hour hotline where prospective tenants can listen to detailed information about the property

Find some of their rental ads on your own to see if they stand out from the competition. How informative & compelling are they?

Any management company can post basic info online, but you need one that knows how to optimize ads for maximum impact. Ads should answer questions while using engaging copy that connects with readers emotionally, not just listing bland facts.

What is their current vacancy rate?

This is very telling; if they can’t get or keep other peoples tenants very well, there's no reason to think yours will be any different.

How long does it usually take them to fill vacancies on average?

If they tell you longer than a month keep looking, regardless of what they tell you there's no guarantee it will hold up.

Do they know what their cost per lead is?

If they can readily provide an answer, you know you’re dealing with a manager who closely tracks the impact of their marketing & advertising dollars.

Who fields inbound leads resulting from rental ads?

The system is only as good as the weakest link in the chain. If well placed & written rental ads direct leads to someone unqualified to handle them then the previous effort was wasted.

How quickly do they return prospective tenants calls and emails?

The quicker, the better. You need a property management company that aggressively responds to & nurtures leads throughout the sales cycle. Companies less focused on sales may struggle here, leading to longer vacancies. To test, reach out via one of their ads and see how fast they respond.

What do they do to prepare the home for showings? Do they take steps to ensure optimal presentation both inside and outside?

Showings are where the decision is made, you want your management company to be on the ball with paying attention to the details that matter.

Will they show a unit if it is occupied?

This is advisable so long as the current tenant is informed, the unit is presentable & the necessary precautions are taken to minimize the intrusion & disturbance. If the unit is showable then ads for the unit should be put up prior to the move out date so as to minimize the vacancy period.

Who shows the units, do they allow unsupervised showings from a lock box?

Successful showings require an organized manager who can answer questions and sell the property’s benefits. A lock box for showings can hinder this & increase the risk of vandalism, theft, & rental fraud when tenants are unsupervised.

How many times will they show the unit during the week and the weekend?

Watch out for managers who are not willing to put in the time necessary to maximize the number of showings for your property.

What kind of a tenant retention program do they have in place?

Increasing tenancy periods boosts your business by reducing turnovers, lowering placement costs, ensuring steady income, & fostering responsible tenants. Pay attention to how the property manager addresses tenant retention—does it seem like a priority or an afterthought? A strong program includes quick responses to needs, regular check-ins for feedback, financial incentives, advance notice & explanation of rent increases, & thoughtful touches like seasonal gifts or newsletters.

As any landlord veteran will tell you, if your unit is priced reasonably getting applicants is easy, its finding QUALIFIED tenants that is challenging.

Best to you in your PM search!

Drew Sygit · Answer

@Heath Sizick most of your posts are well written, but this one has a few holes & self-bias issues:(

Published Listings: not aware of any PMC/landlord that still uses print ads! The ROI is abysmal. Please prove otherwise:) Signs depend on the location as may just increased odds of vandalism.

Vacancy Rates: how is an owner supposed to validate whatever the PMC claims?

Days On Market: Longer than a month = keep looking? Do you know what the national average DOM is nationwide? According to Showmojo, 2025-Q1 was 46 days, but dropped to 36 days in Q2. How familiar are you with the seasonal impact on DOM?

Cost per Lead: Yes, a good PMC should know the answer, but really how useful is this info to a property owner? Also, again how will they validate it?

Lockbox Showings: You seem to be biased against these, yet Shomojo and other industry data, show they are increasingly preferred by prospective tenants. They also address your next point about how often a PMC will show a unit. - Agree that PMCs that literally just give out a lockbox code should be avoided. So, what's more important is what showing system is the PMC using and how are prospects screened before being given a code.

Tenant Retention: This is all to vague. Yes, the needs of tenants should be promptly addressed, but how will an owner track this?- A PMCs Lease Renewal process is pretty important, but you didn't get into this point. When do they start the renewal process? What is the process? Do they just give a tenant a take-it-or-leave it increase? How is the owner involved in the process?

Sorry if this comes across too negative.

Actually impressed you're doing this!

DM me if you'd like to chat and compare notes:)